title: Cyclooxygenases: structural and functional insights.
abstract: Cyclooxygenase (COX; prostaglandin G/H synthase, EC 1.14.99.1) catalyzes the first two steps in the biosynthesis of prostaglandins (PGs). The two COX isoforms COX-1 and COX-2 are the targets of the widely used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, indicating a role for these enzymes in pain, fever, inflammation, and tumorigenesis. The ubiquitous constitutive expression of COX-1 and inducible expression of COX-2 have led to the widely held belief that COX-1 produces homeostatic PGs, while PGs produced by COX-2 are primarily pathophysiological. However, recent discoveries call this paradigm into question and reveal as yet underappreciated functions for both enzymes. This review focuses on some of these new insights.
authors.affiliation: A.B. Hancock Jr. Memorial Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology, Center in Molecular Toxicology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232-0146, USA.
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Rouzer
authors.forename: Lawrence J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Marnett
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016861:Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D004194:Disease; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D006801:Humans; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016861:Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases